CD TITLE: Bless I Oh Jah
ARTISTE: Aaron Silk
FIRST THINGS first. Aaron Silk can sing. He is not simply riding on the hem of his brother Garnett Silk's robe. His voice is strong, he enunciates properly, his breathing is inaudible and he has got enough range.
Second things second. The album is well produced. The 14-track disc is overwhelmingly roots reggae, but it is not a straight through one-drop, so it does not get monotonous. The Intro (a ballad mix) starts off things on a slow enough note, but it picks up right away with Babylon Falling and hits a peak with I Am Who I Am a bit past the half-way mark.
The title track, Bless I Oh Jah, is on the ballad side and the album ends with a superb acoustic version of the Garnett Silk classic Place In Your Heart.
Saxophonists Howard Messam (Babylon You're Falling, Kibba Yu Mouth, Survival Thing Aint Seen Loving Yet, That Old Love) and Dean Fraser (See It Again, Coming Home) do good jobs. They complement work by the Firehouse Crew and Sly and Robbie, among others, with the co-producer, Silk, playing guitar throughout.
There are no breath-taking solos that make you want to 'wheel up', but the music is much more than competent.
In addition, although the title track is about Aaron wishing and being sure that he will see Garnett again, the disc is not a Garnett Silk memorial. In fact, the only cover of a Garnett song is the final Place In Your Heart and that is a wonderful acoustic guitar-based interpretation, with great harmonies to boot. Great variation on the melody too.
With all this great stuff, three stars seems a tad insufficient, but it is the lyrics that are the downfall. They are not overly banal, but they do not do either of the two things that lyrics have to do to get me really going - say something new or say something familiar in a new way.
The clichés and overworked themes start from early, as Babylon You're Falling, the second cut. The theme itself is old hat, but it gets more classically cliché with the lyrics:
You don't know the powers of Rastafari
That's why you come to test I and I
But word sound and power
Bringing lightning, brimstone and fire
Flowing down on you from the Most High
It continues in places like the bridge of Bless I Oh Jah (and seeing a dead loved one again is not exactly new, OK):
The wages of sin is death
The gift of Jah is life
So now I know my brother
You're very much alive...
It continues in that vein, easing up a tad in one of my favourites on the album, Ain't Seen Loving Yet.
It is a testament to the strength of the other facets to the album that despite the writing weaknesses Bless I Oh Jah is still palatable.
Picks on the disc: Ain't Seen Loving Yet, Place In Your Heart, See It Again, Bless I Oh Jah
Track listing
1. Intro (Ballad Mix)
2. Babylon Falling
3. Hear I Call
4. Bless I Oh Jah
5. Father Told Me
6. Coming Home
7. Survival Thing
8. I Am Who I Am
9. See It Again
10. Kibba
11. Zion High
12. Aint Seen Loving Yet
13. Old Love
14. Place In Your Heart
- Mel Cooke
